Moose wrote:Hi Hugh:
Very nice to meet you. It's really great to be able to visit with you and the others that have shared their time and experience here with us. The media shows us one aspect of a person; coming here and chatting, sharing stories and info, exposes a component the media often misses. Thanks for taking the time from a very busy schedule to do this. And thanks to Tamra for popping in here during the Quest to clarify a bit of rumor.
Okay. Dogs. You've named some of your Quest dogs who will be on the Iditarod trail too this year. How many dogs in your kennel, and how many of them are ready and able to hit the Iditarod trail, conditioned enough to expect them to finish smartly?
You ran one heck of a Quest. Your finish, despite the penalty, was amazing. Honest answer now: All things considered, do you expect to win Iditarod this year? (Your answer will affect my Top Ten Picks!)
70 dogs in our kennel including retired dogs. Started training 50 this fall. The yearlings trained with the main team until November, then we were at 35. We had 14 in the Quest and 12 in the Quest 300 so we were at around 28 by then. Right now we're picking from 18 for 16 spots only because that's whose on the truck. Tamra picked up the Iditarod dogs after Dawson so there may be a few at home I'm not thinking of. Besides the ones I listed before the remainder of the team is Tyler, Tolliver, Spencer, Colby, Shifter, Kodiak, Amos, Wonka.
Yes. By far the best team I've ever brought to Iditarod. However I would caution against betting on Hugh Neff. I always manage to screw things up